An unbeaten century from Will Kendall was enough to condemn Middlesex to their eighth National League defeat of the season against Hampshire at the Rose Bowl.

Kendall came to the rescue with his side reeling on six for three to strike 10 fours and a six in an undefeated 110 off 118 balls, his first three-figure score in one-day cricket.

The stand-in skipper was given fine support from off-spinner Shaun Udal, whose 58 from 55 balls was just as crucial to the home side's cause.

The Hawks pulled off one of the recoveries of the season to post a useful target after they had lost their opening three wickets with just six on the board.

The Kendall-Udal partnership saw them put on 103 in 51 minutes to lift the Hawks from 76 for four in the 23rd over to 179 for five by the 39th.

Kendall then put on 55 for the sixth wicket in tandem with Dimitri Mascarenhas, who clubbed a priceless 24 from only 15 deliveries, including a huge six driven off Paul Weekes over long-on.

In reply, the Crusaders appeared to be on the march after a shaky start with Ben Hutton (63), Owais Shah (30), Ed Joyce (43) and James Dalrymple (42) all making telling contributions.

But Middlesex ran out of overs when none of the above were able to turn their scores into match-winning efforts, the visitors' innings falling away to 217 for seven off 45 overs.

Neil Johnson took the vital wicket of Hutton, trapping the Crusaders opener lbw, while Udal also removed dangermen Shah and Dalrymple at crucial stages in the match.

Hampshire: N C Johnson, J S Laney, J D Francis, L R Prittipaul, W S Kendall (Capt), J H K Adams, I Brunnschweiler (Wkt) A D Mascarenhas, S D Udal, J R C Hamblin, J A Tomlinson.

Middlesex: R M S Weston, B L Hutton, O A Shah (Capt), E C Joyce, J W M Dalrymple, P N Weekes, D Alleyne (Wkt), N R D Compton, C B Keegan, S J Cook, T A Hunt.

Umpires: A Clarkson and N J Llong